Florida may reopen black bear hunt. State agency wants your opinion
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A black bear walks between two homes in Longwood, Florida. Photo: Red Huber/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
Florida wildlife officials will decide next month whether to launch the state's first black bear hunt in nearly a decade.
The big picture: The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission considers the Florida black bear a conservation success story.
- The agency estimates there are about 4,000 bears now, compared with 2,500 in 2002 — though the last population survey the state completed was in 2015.
- Florida banned bear hunting in 1994 but reopened a brief season in 2015 that ended after two days because hunters killed more bears than expected.
Driving the news: The FWC says the bear population is "large and healthy enough to sustain a hunt," and in December, the agency's board directed staff to come up with proposals for a new bear hunt.
- The primary objective of a hunt, the FWC says, is to balance species numbers, but the agency also refers to the recreational and economic interests of the hunting community.
By the numbers: Annual bear-related calls to the FWC have increased since 2009, but most are positive, per the agency.
- Bear-related complaints have decreased during that time.
- Still, about 150 people were threatened, attacked or injured by bears in 2024, the highest number on record, according to a Tampa Bay Times analysis.
What they're saying: The 2015 hunt sparked statewide protests, and advocates on both sides have already begun speaking out.
- "We have 23 million people in Florida and 4,000 bears. So we know where the population problem is: It's the humans," Katrina Shadix, executive director of the nonprofit Bear Warriors United, told the Times.
- She said car crashes have kept the population from skyrocketing. More than 2,600 bears in Florida were killed by car strikes between 2014 and 2023, per the newspaper.
Richard Martinez, the chair of the Florida chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, told Outdoor Life that his organization would prefer that Florida issue a limited number of permits to avoid over-hunting.
- "From what we understand of the science, the resource is there and the population can sustain it."
What we're watching: The FWC is hosting three public meetings this week over Zoom to receive feedback from the public.
- They are Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. (Zoom info here.)
During a March meeting, the agency asked participants to weigh in on issues including hunting methods, bag limits and permit issuance.
- In 2015, Florida allowed all hunting methods except trapping, prohibited hunting cubs or females with cubs and had unlimited permit sales, per the FWC.
- The hunt took place across four of seven bear management areas: the South, Central, North and East Panhandle.
Zoom in: There are about 1,000 bears in the growing South population, primarily in and around the Everglades.